About the Farm

Not so long ago I was a mad keen farmer. Though I’m not farming, pretty much everything I was doing is now being done by the fellas at Fickle Fig Farm. The Alderley Grange will soon rise again under the capable management of Carol at Spyder Ranch. Find Alderley Grange and Fickle Fig on Facebook…

Recent sailing trip to the Caribbean… sometimes you have to puke your guts out on a rough crossing to discover what makes you happy…

Yes, I still love local food, local farms, and my wonderful home base and warm community here on Vancouver Island. But life has a way of throwing wrenches in one’s proverbial works, which is exactly what happened to me.

I was a farmer for a while. I never ate better and learned a great deal about food, farming, our industrialized food system, and food activists and committed food consumers who are working hard to produce healthy food sustainably. Yes, for a while there it was all about food, food, food!

But then some things happened (watch the blog – I’ll backtrack and fill in the gaps) and I realized I am as much a traveller, writer, performer, adventurer and curious spirit as ever I have been and that for various reasons the farm was not the way forward for me. It has been a fascinating, heartbreaking, joyous journey and soon to be the subject of a book (manuscript in progress). I thought about just deleting this website and blog and then I thought better of it. Sometimes things just don’t go as planned and that isn’t always a bad thing. So, with a new header and fresh resolve, I’m picking up the blog again and resuming the online telling of my ongoing journey.

I’m leaving this page up for now – much of our farming operation has been taken over by Fickle Fig Farm… Find FFF at the Thursday market in Sidney (seasonally) and at their fine farmstand north of Sayward Road on the Lochside Trail. Virtually, FFF can be found on Facebook.

Dark Creek Farm is a small scale family farm committed to healthy, sustainable, organic farming practices. We’re located on beautiful southern Vancouver Island and our products are available at the farm stand located at the Alderley Grange (5566 Alderley Road). We open the farm stand during the growing season – between May and October. Check our Facebook page (Alderley Grange) for updates.

At Dark Creek Farm you won’t find toxic chemicals, monocrops, or Franken food. What you will find is a selection of happy, healthy, heritage breeds of farm animals, delicious vegetables and herbs grown from open-pollinated, organic seeds, and delicious berries and fruit.

During the warmer months, come see what’s in season and browse our selection of farm products including raw Kahshmir rovings, fresh duck and chicken eggs, and fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruit in season. Visit this website any time to learn more about what we do and the heritage breeds we raise. This is also the place to come to order fresh, tasty pasture-raised pork and poultry products (follow the links at the top of the page). Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks for popping round to my blog. I was delighted to see you’re located on Vancouver Island. I am related to a pioneer on Vancouver Island, Angus Johnston. He was quite a character!! A bit of an Indiana Jones type character. I lived in Greater Sydney in Australia by the beach. Not into farming myself but my son’s school has an ag program, which he loves.
xx Rowena